Isilon Cluster Network Throughput Test

When users complain of slowness of the storage cluster, administrators should first check the throughput of the storage cluster. Throughput reveals how well/badly the storage cluster handles network traffic. Low throughput is indicative of a traffic processing bottleneck, which can cause users to experience slowness when storing/retrieving data from the cluster. To receive insights into the throughput of the cluster, administrators can use the Cluster Network Throughputs test. This test measures the rate at which the data is received/transmitted by the cluster, and also reports the number of packets received/transmitted per second. Additionally, the test also reveals the number of errors occurred per second during receiving/transmitting the data, if any.

Target of the test : An EMC Isilon Storage System

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the target storage system being monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test

Parameter	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed.
Host	The IP address of the host for which this test is to be configured.
Port	The port at which the host listens. By default, this will be NULL.
Timeout	Specify the time duration (in seconds) beyond which this test should time out in the Timeout text box. The default is 10 seconds.
Use SUDO	By default, this parameter is set to No. This indicates that, by default, the eG agent will not require any special permissions to execute the commands. However, in some highly secure environments, this command cannot be executed directly as the eG agent install user is different from the root user who has the privileges to run all commands on the target storage system. In such cases, create a sudo user using the steps discussed in the Pre-requisites for Monitoring the EMC Isilon Storage System. Credentials of such a user should be specified in the Username and Password text boxes in the COMPONENTS page. Set the Use Sudo parameter to Yes. This will enable the eG agent install user to execute the commands.

Measurements made by the test

Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Data received	Indicates the rate at which the data is received by the cluster.	MB/Sec	These measures are the indicators of traffic handling ability of the cluster. A very high value of these measures points out that the cluster does not have adequate resources to process upcoming traffic.
Data transmitted	Indicates the rate at which the data is transmitted from the cluster.	MB/Sec
Received packets	Indicates the rate at which the packets are received by the cluster.	Packets/Sec
Transmitted packets	Indicates the number of packets that is transmitted from the cluster per second.	Packets/Sec
Error in received data	Indicates the number of errors that is occurred per second when receiving data on the cluster.	Errors/Sec	Ideally, the value of this measure should be zero. A high value of this measure indicates a processing bottleneck requiring further investigation.
Error in transmitted data	Indicates the number of errors that is occurred per second when transmitting data from the cluster.	Errors/Sec	Ideally, the value of this measure should be zero. A high value of this measure indicates a processing bottleneck requiring further investigation.